Rachel, DSRCT cancer. Passed Nov 30, 2024

Unfortunately, Rachel passed away on November 30th, 2024 from her cancer. She was home with her family and with her boyfriend. My only regret is that we could not do more for her. Rachel I know is so thankful for all those who donated and helped her thrive the best she could throughout her last year alive. I wish so deeply we could have more time with her.

From Rachel’s family and friends, we thank you all for the love and support you provided.

Rachel is in Urgent need as of 9/26/24.

She has fluid build up around her heart and lungs. The Window drain in her heart and the pleural drain for her lungs are not working and we are asking for doctors to help. She’s not finished fighting this cancer. Please donate or reach out if you know anyone who can help!

Rachels full story follows the most current updates on where and how she is doing !

Rachel entered the fight for her life. After listening to her intuition and heading to the emergency room on November 20th Rachel has learned that she has cancer on the hinge of her heart and lungs. This particular cancer (a very rare form of DSRCT) is met with aggressive treatment and currently has no cure.

Rachel was diagnosed with:

Mutation

Fusion protein ewsr : wt1

Desmopalstic small round cell tumor

She started treatment on Oahu, where she lives, and was set up for a round of chemo therapy before she was then transported back to her hometown of Georgetown Texas to be with her family. She has been in Texas since December 23rd receiving recommended chemo treatments from MD Anderson. She only has 2 of the 6 treatment’s of this particular chemo left with each treatment consisting of 5 days of injections. She has reached the max amount of these injections due to the potential of further treatment causing serious heart damage. Luckily the tumors have decreased in size and have opened up the possibility of surgery to remove what remains of them. Although the results are positive doctors are still only using this chemo to prolong her life. This treatment will not cure Rachel.

The next step in Rachel’s plan is looking for trials that can continue to prolong her life and hopefully at some point cure her. Rachel’s doctors have found 3 choices of trials. Two of them are also just to prolong life with extremely low chances of curing her. The third is more promising but extremely dangerous and still in its early stages of development. It’s called CAR T cell therapy. Having the potential to keep her cancer at bay the longest and even curing her this is a trial she is seriously considering. If she did enroll in this trial she would be in Seattle.

Aside from this recent cancer diagnosis Rachel is an accomplished 24 year old who has just finished her first year working as a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines. She is a true adventure seeker as her hobbies include: sky diving, surfing, scuba diving, skate boarding and anything she makes friends doing. Rachel is usually the one making sure people around her are happy, taken care of and always included. Now it’s our turn to mālama Rachel.

Anything is greatly appreciated.

Please keep praying, sending encouragement, and support Rachel with hope that she will be the breakthrough this cancer needs. Rachel is so special. We all know this already. Stay strong with your hope that a miracle will happen for Rachel.

As Rachel goes through this process she is unable to fly due to the restrictions for pilot medicals. She is also unable to work in general due to on going side effects of the cancer. We are raising money for Rachel to pay medical bills and normal living costs. Also, we are so incredibly thankful for the community at Hawaiian Airlines for donating their vacation hours to Rachel. It truly shows the culture of mālama ka po’e. As she preps for her for the next step we will continue to post updates.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Rachels story and join along on this journey.

Mahalo.